By Colin Howland, Director of Music and Organist
Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into His presence with singing!—Psalm 100:2.
Music has a vital role in the life of Tenth Presbyterian Church. We use vocal and instrumental music to worship God together, to grow in the Christian faith, and to give witness of that faith to the world. The Bible clearly portrays God’s people as a singing people. In joy and sorrow, in sickness and health, singing to God accompanies the Christian’s life. Noted theologians such as Augustine and Calvin have noted the close relationship of singing and prayer. Both spoke of two kinds of prayer, those which are spoken and those which are sung.
And yet, I have often met Christians who have a fear of singing, or at least being heard! I have known many people who pray boldly in spoken prayer yet don’t know the joy of practicing sung prayer. I have also known it to work the other way round. Perhaps there are those who are confident musicians and have no problem singing prayers boldly in the midst of or even in front of others. Yet when asked to pray in front of a group, they shrink back into timidity.
Now I think it is safe to say that the one thing we all have in common is this: we all still have much to learn about spoken and sung prayer! We all could put these things into better practice.
The Music Ministries of Tenth Presbyterian Church are focused on the worship of God, the growth of Christian disciples, and the witness of the gospel to the world. To that end, one of our great desires is to encourage and help people of all ages in their prayer lives, both spoken and sung. This encouragement and discipleship happens in groups called choirs, not so musical members of the congregation can be singled out for their talent, but that together we may learn to worship and sing God’s praise. Singing should be one of the most delightful parts of the Christian’s life, yet for far too many it is something which they take only half-heartedly. Choirs are places where we can strengthen and learn from one another as we together seek to sing God’s praise.
As with many disciplines, the best way to begin is to start young!
Tenth Children’s and Youth Music is providing the following opportunities this year. Please contact Joseph Waggoner for details: jwaggoner@tenth.org.
- Praisemakers—Pre-K music program for ages 4–5. Sunday mornings in B2, leaving the 11:00 AM worship service at the second hymn.
- Tenth Children’s Music—Music program for grades 1–6. Sunday evenings, 6:10–7:40 PM, in B1 and B2 for choir, strings, general music, and hymnody work. Begins September 17.
- Maranatha Choir—Choir for 6th through 12th graders. Will meet in November and December to sing Christmas songs for morning services on a Sunday in December. Details TBD. Please contact Eleanor Bracey at ebracey@tenth.org for more information.
There are also the following opportunities for adults. Please contact Colin Howland at chowland@tenth.org for more information.
- Men’s Choir—meets every Sunday in the balcony from 10:20–10:45 am, beginning September 17. They sing once per month October through May.
- Tenth Church Choir—meets every Monday night for rehearsal from 6:30–8:30 pm in Fellowship Hall, beginning September 11. They sing weekly in the evening service, meeting at 5:15 pm for a pre-service rehearsal beginning tonight. They also sing for the Reformation Hymn Festival, the Lessons and Carols Services, the Good Friday Concert, and occasional Sunday morning services.
By God’s grace, we want Tenth Presbyterian Church to be a place where men and women, boys and girls love to sing God’s praise. Please pray to that end.